It's a Very Subjective Line of Work
by Who needs coordination anyways
Summary: When a self proclaimed promise involves a certain James Potter, you just can't go and depend on too many things to hold up. But Lily could always count on Professor Flitwick, right? oneshot.


A/N: I haven't posted up any Lily/James lately so I figured, hey, why not come up with another severely long and plotless one-shot. So I did. Please enjoy and reviews would be nice, because I can't say this enough. I just keep writing this crap until someone tells me to stuff it already.

Disclaimer: You may have heard of Harry Potter. You most likely have never heard of me, there's a reason for that.

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**It's a Very Subjective Line of Work**

Lily bounced her knees nervously; glancing from the Professor's stacked arrangement of parchment to the charming young man with tousled hair and a mischievous grin.

She was holding her hands clasped tightly in her lap while on the edge of her seat. Quite an accomplishment really, to be balancing so precisely while moving one's foot at such a frantic speed.

Watching this all with her chin resting in her palm was one of Lily's closest friends who, not so coincidentally, happened to sit beside her during Charm's lessons.

Alice was not one to judge, she was perfectly aware that everyone possessed their own slew of odd habits, but this was just strange. Lily never fidgeted; she was always calm and relaxed during class.

So it would be safe to say that going from still and composed to as erratic as a niffler on crack was not just an odd habit of Lily's.

Finally unable to take any more of the nervy squirming Alice grabbed her wand and forcefully jabbed Lily in the side, "I'm sure Flitwick would let you run to the loo if you just asked."

Lily rubbed at the sore spot moodily while she whispered back, "I don't need to go to the loo and would you watch where you poke that thing, it's lethal."

Before Alice could respond, Lily turned herself towards the front of the class to continue her wait for the Professor to hand back their assignments.

The assignment itself was excruciatingly easy; it was a review on Cheering Charms, but of course as seeing how they first learned them several years ago Professor Flitwick thought he was being quite the trickster.

Lily was mere steps away from hyperventilation, not due to the assignment, but because of the promise she made to herself.

Lily was well known for her Charms expertise, even the most dimwitted first year knew that Flitwick would let her commit multiple homicides and shield her from harm just for producing a standard Summoning Charm for him.

That's beside the point however, the promise Lily made herself occurred while in the library. She had been perusing the shelves for something to read in her spare time when she stumbled upon James Potter.

James Potter in the library.

James Potter in the library _working_.

On further inspection she saw him writing his Charm's essay. Right then and there she promised herself that if James Potter received a higher mark than her on that assignment then he damn well deserved compensation.

She wasn't quite sure what she meant by that exactly but she was confident it wouldn't matter. This is because, like mentioned earlier, it was common knowledge that Flitwick admired and gloated to his colleagues about even one of her doodles.

So naturally she figured she would get an O and James might get an E for his extra effort. Flitwick still held a grudge from second year when the Marauder's put him in an elf costume around Christmastime; it lasted the entire duration of break.

Height is an awfully touchy topic with Filius.

She wasn't so sure of herself at the moment however. He had at least six books around him. That must mean he had six times the excellent information in his essay.

Her ruminations were cut short as Professor Flitwick waved his wand and the assignments began to float to their owners.

Lily's chronic leg bouncing reached a pinnacle of suspense when Alice's paper zoomed over causing her to bang her knee on the underside of the desk. Alice gave her an exasperated look, "Honestly, what is the matter with you?"

Lily didn't pay attention to her though; she was too busy trying to see if James got his paper back yet. She saw Remus holding his and reading through the Professor's comments and couldn't contain herself.

If she asked the Marauder's what their scores were then it wouldn't be too obvious that she was only trying to find out James'.

It's not as if he actually knew about the promise. Lily had concocted it on the spot, internally. Yet she still felt if she backed out, which she could because no one except her would ever know, it would be beyond pathetic. She couldn't even gather up enough courage to fulfill a promise that she made up on her own free will.

For Merlin's sake, she was a Gryffindor!

After she crumpled up a wad parchment she chucked it at the head of the most responsible Marauder, "Remus. What'd you get?"

Remus turned around to look at Lily surprised, "Lily, don't you recall the policy concerning the privacy of marks? I can't just go around shouting my score to-"

Sirius cut him off mid-sentence, "He got an E."

Lily couldn't help but snort at Remus' disgruntled expression, "And you?"

Sirius clutched his paper to his chest, "Now, Lily, don't you recall the policy concerning the-"

Remus rapped him over the head with his Charm's book. "He got an E as well."

Peter squeaked as Lily looked towards him, "Er...I didn't...I er...I got an A."

Lily nodded and focused on James, this was really what it all came down to. He twirled his quill absently as he watched the last of the essays settle down to the desks.

A glance at her own paper made Lily's leg abruptly stop mid-bounce. Was that an E she spied? She got an E. An E! She gawked at it in horror; there must have been some sort of mix up.

Alice waved her hand in front of Lily's face and after getting no response, scooted her chair over to see what Lily was staring at. Lily quickly flipped it face down on the desk as Alice rolled her eyes, clearly the Head Duties were piling up and she had finally cracked.

Lily lifted her head and met James' gaze. He smiled at her, his eyes bright, "What? Do you not care about my mark Lily? This is blatant favoritism here. And from the Head Girl? Disgraceful."

Finally, somewhat recovered from the horror of receiving an E she began to speak, "Yes, well is this favoritism for you or for them? How do you know what I'm going to do with their marks now? I might go inform Professor Flitwick that they've broken the privacy policy."

He shook his head at her as he tipped the chair back, "Your mind is a dangerous place Lily Evans. And just to let you know I've joined your ranks, I got an O. Frankly I'm shocked, I haven't gotten an O in Charms since second year, he was none too pleased with that prank."

Lily just stared at him the words 'he damn well deserves compensation' running through her brain. What does that even _mean_? It sounded slightly ominous.

Professor Flitwick clambered up onto his pedestal; it brought him up to eye level with the class, while they were all sitting. The lesson began but Lily could only stare at the overturned essay in front of her.

She would ask him after class what was wrong with it. There is no way she could have gotten a lower mark, especially the one time when there were actual stakes at hand.

Lily was pulled out of her reverie when flurries of paper started up and the chattering got louder.

Alice swung her bag up on her shoulder, "I'll see you at dinner Lils, I have to go find Frank and I know you're going to go harass Flitwick."

Giving her friend a reproving glance she muttered under her breath as she made her way down to the Professor, "I'm not harassing him, just questioning him rather heatedly."

She waited for Flitwick to look up as she stood beside him patiently, he looked up and clapped his hands together, "Ah! Miss Evans, my dear, what can I help you with?"

Lily held up her essay, "Well Professor I was just wondering as to why my paper was scored so badly when I wrote out the exact requirements for the assignment."

Flitwick chuckled at her merrily, "You didn't do badly, an Exceeds Expectations is an admirable score Miss Evans."

Seeing she wasn't going to get anywhere Lily sighed, "Alright, thank you Professor."

On her back to her seat she saw James waiting beside Flitwick. He stepped forward once she moved and not that she tried to or anything but it was rather difficult to miss their conversation.

"Mr. Potter, I was simply wondering if I could use a copy of your excellent assignment to use for my lesson plans."

The empty room seemed to grow cavernous. Lily dropped her bag in shock. A lone owl began to hoot.

James didn't seem in much better shape, "Oh, well, er...sure Professor."

He handed the paper over seeming baffled and Lily just could not control herself. "Professor, just clarify this for me please, James got a higher mark than I did, right?"

Flitwick waved her comment away flustered, "Miss Evans, now really, you both did magnificently. This is not a competition you know."

Lily stared at him unblinkingly, "Yes Professor I know this is not a competition. This isn't meant in any ill will, just in your professional opinion."

Shuffling Flitwick wrung his hands, "Grading is a very subjective line of work-"

Lily waved her hand dismissively, "Professor honestly, neither James nor my feelings will be hurt and I really would like to get to dinner so please just tell me. On your judgment James deserved a higher mark than me?"

Once he gave her a noncommittal nod Lily took a deep breath and exited the classroom trying to maintain her dignity.

James took his paper back from Flitwick after he charmed up a copy, thanked him then ran after Lily. He caught up with as she trudged down the hall, barely twenty feet from the room. Before he even opened his mouth Lily turned to him.

If she didn't know what 'he damn well deserves compensation' meant maybe he would. "What do you think 'he damn well deserves compensation' means?"

He frowned for a moment, "I suppose it depends on the context. It could be positive like when a bloke goes and cleans the kitchen or something of the sort and 'he damn well deserves compensation' in the form of a new pair of Quidditch robes. Or it could be negative, like when McGonagall says 'he damn well deserves compensation' but she means a month worth of detentions instead of a reward."

Lily shook her head at him; it seemed she would never actually understand what she was thinking. "I hope you know that was no help whatsoever."

He shot her another charming grin, "Happy to be of service."

As they walked, Lily began to get more and more anxious. It was very similar to her behavior when she was waiting for her paper but now she was walking so she couldn't leg bounce.

The stupid promise wouldn't leave her alone, 'he damn well deserves compensation'.

If she knew what her deranged mind meant when it phrased that she would go right ahead and give him his compensation but what?

A conk on the head? A congratulations? A front row seat to her lamenting over the loss of dear Filius? What?

A particularly "free-spirited" girl in a painting; she was a nymph of some sort, which explains the lack of clothing, winked and blew James a kiss. Rapidly Lily's mind clicked and her face flushed in embarrassment.

If it was possible to reprimand the subconscious mind she would have.

How could she have unknowingly come up with a plot involving snogging Potter without realizing it? She couldn't have.

What an ironic twist of fate.

James inspected her with a concerned expression, "Are you alright? You're looking a bit peaky."

She tried to control her response so she wouldn't end up crying hysterically over her abrupt realization. In terms for the simpletons Lily wanted to snog James and now she was nearing panic.

Lily managed to locate her voice with some difficulty and squeaked out, "I'm fine!"

James shot her a calculating look trying to figure out of she was lying or not but they had reached the Great Hall by then. Pushing the doors open Lily maneuvered her way to Alice and sat down trying to shrink behind Frank's back.

Maybe if she couldn't see him her brain would change its mind, right?

Frank twisted around trying to see Lily to greet her properly but she moved with him and he finally threw up his arms, "You're barmy you know."

Alice grinned at him as she swallowed her mouthful of food, "And you just figured that out now? It's the reason we get on so well. How did harassing the Professor go?"

Lily laughed at the way Frank's eyes bugged out; she was so distracted she forgot to hide. Frank looked between the two of them waiting for the conversation to go on but Lily only got a plate and took a bite of her potatoes. "Lily! How could you harass a Professor?"

She sighed at him in pity, "Not literal harassment Frank, I asked about an assignment and my wily _Charm_-ing ways didn't work by the way."

Lily really did have to restrain herself from snickering at her own wit.

Alice began to butter a roll as she raised her eyebrows, "Nice one Lils, very clever."

Lily smirked as she took another bite and accidentally let her eyes focus too far down the table. Sirius saw her looking and waved exuberantly while Remus tried to prevent him from doing so but it caused James to look over at whom he was waving to.

Shoveling down the rest of her food Lily decided something had to be done. It was impossible to let the promise go unfulfilled if her subconscious was going to act like this.

She needed to think, and think hard, so naturally after scarfing down her meal she stood up and marched out of the Great Hall unceremoniously.

Alice and Frank watched her oddly and Sirius turned to James in confusion, "Did my wave seem offensive?"

James snickered at him as he speedily ate the rest of his dinner, "No mate, she's been off since Charms, I think I'm going to go see what the matter is."

Sirius patted him on the shoulder as he stood up, "Good luck, then. Now Moony, really, was the wave offensive?"

James rolled his eyes as he stood up and smiled as Alice winked at him. He took his time getting to the Head's Room, he knew something had Lily in a twist and wanted to give her enough time to sort it out.

At that exact moment, sitting in the seat he imagined her to be in, was Lily Evans clutching a pillow to her face in frustration.

Why did he have to do better than her? Then everything would have been perfectly lovely. Maybe if she read through his essay it would help.

She could just ask him to read it and then decide what to do; maybe her opinion would be different than Flitwick's.

The portrait swung open as James stepped into the room eyeing Lily with the pillow over her face carefully. "Er...Lily?"

She nearly when into cardiac arrest at the suddenness of his arrival and then when she saw it was only him relaxed back into the chair, "Before you ask again, yes I'm fine. Do you mind lending me your paper to read?"

James pulled it out of his bag and held it a little out of her reach, "Promise not to lose your mind and try to verbally attack Flitwick again?"

Lily glowered at him and leaned forward snatching it out of his hands.

He watched her begin to read before yawning loudly. "Just give it back when you're through with it. I'm going to head up to my room."

He went up the stairs as Lily sat perfectly still reading his paper in hushed reverence. It was the most beautifully written paper she had ever read.

The thing nearly brought her to tears in its sheer brilliance. James must of spent hours researching and writing the assignment.

Lily clenched her fists forgetting she was still holding the essay and then having to flatten the crinkles out. Stupid James and his natural tendency for being good at everything.

Lily got to her feet and stomped her way up to James room flinging the door open without knocking.

He had been lying on his bed reading Quidditch Through the Ages for the fourteenth time but was interrupted by Lily fuming in his doorway.

Sitting up he somewhat willingly got to his feet, "Yes?"

Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she was just going to do it and get it over with. She opened her eyes again before telling him, "You damn well deserve compensation."

James took the paper from her while staring uncomprehendingly, "You mentioned that earlier, what do you mean by that? There's a Quidditch game in a week so if you do insist upon detention I would prefer after the game."

She threw her hands up, "I'm not giving you a detention, I honestly have no bloody clue what I mean."

She then proceeded to stand on her tip toes and balance herself by clutching onto his shoulders. James' heart beat increased as she wobbled slightly from the significant height difference.

Lily's cheeks flushed as she asked him under her breath, "What's your subjective opinion of this compensation?"

He stumbled forward until her back met the wall and the charming grin that broke across his face was the last thing she saw before he brought his lips to hers.

Lily's grip shifted from his shoulders up to his hair and as she entangled her fingers in his tousled locks James groaned. His hair was surprisingly soft for being so messy. She tried not to gasp as he slowly brought his hand to her face and traced along her lips. It should have been illegal how tingly he was making her feel.

Pulling back slightly James breathed heavily as he brushed the hair out of her face, "I'd have to say that compensation isn't very well thought out. Perhaps you should try again?"

Lily sighed at him as the long-lasting blush that stained her cheeks the minute she came into James' room darkened at his suggestion, "Well, if you insist."

The next day before Charm's began James went up and hugged Professor Flitwick, "Thank you."

A bewildered classroom watched as Flitwick patted him on the back awkwardly, "Your welcome?"

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A/N: There. So now the only logical thing for you to do next is review right? If not I'll think people are reading my story and are so stunned by my brilliance they can't even come up with a decent response, which is clearly not the case. You have to set me straight. 


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